Glory Days
by QueenLizzie13
Summary: Naley fic. AU now...as I wrote this awhile ago. Nathan and Haley are divorced. This is set in the summer of their senior year...Nathan will do anything to win Haley back...even die trying. Chapter 7 uploaded!
1. Missing Her

Nathan Scott often went to the river court now. It was his way of dealing with his failed marriage with Haley. His thoughts turned bitter and cold every time he thought of it. He was far too numb to cry, no matter how much he wanted to, especially the nights when he woke up all alone. Those nights chilled his heart. He rolled the basketball in his hands, feeling the smooth seams of the ball.

He planted his feet and jumped, shooting the ball into the net. It was perfect. He took it again and made 6 more shots in a row. The 8th bounced off the front of the rim, and Nathan caught it in midair, and then made a lay-up with his rebound. He turned and saw Lucas approaching.

Lucas often joined him at the court now. His shoulder was still not 100 and the doctors weren't even sure if it ever would be. But, he was allowed to play again. And just in time for soon it would be basketball season again. Nathan could feel the pressure on his shoulders.

He would be a junior and all the college scouts would no doubt be coming. But, Nathan knew he was ready. He had been training all summer, and even went to a prestigious basketball camp.

"Hey," Lucas greeted him.

"Hey, how's your shoulder?" Nathan asked.

"It's okay. Doesn't hurt as much today." Nathan nodded. That was a good sign at any rate. He closed his eyes for a brief second. He could feel Lucas watching him. The headache was back, like a piercing knife to his skull. He opened his eyes. The pain subsided a bit.

"You okay? You don't look well."

"I'm okay. I'm just tired." And he was. Nathan was exhausted. He didn't sleep well anymore. Peyton, Brooke, and Lucas told him he looked sickly. Nathan didn't care. He didn't care about much anymore. Basketball. That was his life. Always was, though not when he had Haley. God, he loved her so much.

And he didn't know why it had failed so suddenly. Just like that, and she was gone, in the blink of an eye. He couldn't avoid her now that school had started. Nathan would give any of his basketball talent up, just to have Haley back. All the glory, he would have given it up if it meant Haley was still his wife.

He cursed to himself, as he shot another basket, making it. Lucas took a shot right after, which bounced off the rim. But Lucas surprised him by grabbing the ball and making a short jumper, a clean swish.

"Nice," Nathan commented. Nathan grabbed the ball from Lucas and made a three-pointer from long range. Then Nathan slammed the ball into the net. Lucas looked impressed.

"You sure improved with that camp." Nathan shrugged.

"I've been coming here every day," Nathan replied. Then he just said it.

"Man I miss her."


	2. A Memory

Lucas simply nodded. He knew. What he didn't know was how it happened. And he knew Nathan didn't know either. Nathan would always be searching for the answer to the mystery.

Maybe there wasn't an answer and maybe there was. Nathan would do everything in his power to find out what happened. Maybe then, he could get the love of his life back.

_The day Haley told him that she wanted a divorce had been relatively cool for spring. It was June, and school was almost over. Sure they had their share of problems, but Nathan had thought, for the most part, it was working out._

_They didn't have a lot of money, but who needs that when you have true love? Nathan was waiting at his car for Haley to come out. She was holding a letter in her hand. What that letter said, Nathan never knew._

"_Hey," Nathan remembered greeting her. _

"_Hi," Haley said, smiling at him. She seemed a little nervous though and her hand was clenched around the letter tightly._

_She seemed unwilling to say what it was though, for she got in his car without another word. Nathan, however, knew something was up. Haley had been acting a little distant the past few weeks, becoming totally immersed in her singing career. _

Part of Nathan wanted to believe the divorce was only due to Haley wanting to pursue her music and she couldn't do it on so little money. But, most of Nathan knew it was something more. Something had happened and it had to do with that letter.

There was no other explanation for it. Nathan sighed as he took up the basketball once more. He passed it to Lucas who cleanly made another shot.

"Looking good," Nathan told him, "Think you'll be ready for season?"

"Definitely," Lucas said, taking the ball again and making another shot. They played basketball for another hour, talking sparingly, each focused on their own thoughts. Nathan's turned to Haley time and time again. Finally it was too dark for them to play anymore.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," Lucas said.

"Yeah." Nathan's voice seemed far away. He drove away quickly from the river court. He didn't feel like being alone, but he had nowhere to go. No way did he want to go to his parent's house.

_What if all this was their fault? They never supported the marriage from the beginning. _Nathan shook those bad thoughts away. Surely his parents weren't that, _evil? _Nathan was plagued by dark thoughts.

When he got home, he poured over his pictures of him and Haley. He also looked over the file he kept. For the whole summer Nathan had been searching for clues of what happened between him and Haley. But what he really needed to know was what had been in that letter.

Maybe then he could finally be healed from all this. He rubbed his face, tiredly. He was really exhausted and worn down, but Nathan was dreading the thought of sleep, when the slightest sound would wake him and Haley was gone. She went back to living with her parents. To hear her voice again would be pure joy. He began to pick up the phone, but before his finger had dialed the 5th number he set it down again. She obviously did not want to talk to him. Instead Nathan thought about the day again.


	3. Ready or Not

_When they arrived at their apartment, Haley was tense. _

"_What is it?" Nathan finally asked her. _

"_We have to talk," Haley said. Nathan did not think anything of it at the time._

"_Sure," he replied, "What's up?" Haley hesitated. Only then did Nathan begin to get worry. But he was not prepared for what she said next._

"_Nathan," she said slowly, "I want a divorce." Nathan was stunned. The words froze him to the spot where he was standing. It must be a joke, he figured. But it wasn't, for the next thing she did was present the papers. _

"_Wait, Haley, come on, let's work this out. Why do you want this? I thought we were happy. I thought you were happy." _

"_No, Nathan," she said, "That was you." The words bitterly stung Nathan's heart and they spent the next three hours talking. Haley explained why she wasn't happy. But to Nathan, the reasons seemed false. He kept thinking there was something more like another guy. He asked to see the letter. She claimed it was nothing. Nathan felt like his trust had been totally broken. The only reason Nathan had signed the papers was because he wanted Haley to be happy._

_He was willing to do anything for Haley. It was his weakness and his doom. It was the reason why he was living alone now. _

Nathan completely regretted signing the papers now. He still didn't even know what really happened. Sure they had brought it up a couple of times, in the midst of a huge fight. But they had always resolved their differences.

_Unless…but she couldn't have known about that. There was no way she could have known. I never told anyone, no one ever saw me. I buried that. _It was a secret Nathan planned to take to his grave.

Knowing he'd be even more tired tomorrow if he didn't get some sleep soon, Nathan got into bed. But he didn't fall asleep for a long time. A long time.

Nathan woke up, feeling more refreshed and better then he had in quite some time. He had actually been able to get a few hours of sleep after he had finally gone to bed.

He paused at the mirror of his bedroom, just thinking. He was thinking of his secret. The one where he had, just for one night, in a moment of weakness, kissed a girl named Lauren and cheated on his wife. He had been in Chicago then, having been invited to a game by the Bulls. Actually he had won a contest. He had wanted to surprise Haley with the game tickets. But she had told him she was being featured in a concert. So Nathan went alone.

And in the hotel he had met her. God, she had been beautiful. Long, straight blond hair and amazing green eyes. Nathan had been lonely and wanting someone to hold, anyone. No one could have known about that day. Nathan had never told anyone, not even Lucas.

He fought the tears that were coming on. _Why did I do it? Is the divorce my punishment for my mistake? _

"I'm sorry, Haley, I'm sorry." Nathan spoke aloud to himself, "I can't undo the past. But I want to start over, I want us back."

Nathan knew the argument with himself was feeble. Who knew if Haley even knew about it? But with dread, he realized Lauren could have told anyone. They could have been cousins or friends long ago.

The thought stopped Nathan cold in his tracks. _What if the letter that Haley was holding had been from her? _Nathan wished with all his heart that wasn't the case.

But, he had to get ready for school. He saw in the mirror his dark circled and bloodshot eyes. He did look like hell. Everyone told him so. Basketball season was starting though. The first practice was today. Nathan stuffed his physical into his backpack.

Physically he was ready for Whitey, but emotionally…that was a whole different story. He sighed as he went out the door of his apartment and went to school.

Lucas and Tim greeted him at the entrance. Nathan wanted to ignore them; he wasn't really in the mood for "Tim time" or for Lucas. But he didn't.

"Hey," he said instead.

"What's up, Nathan," Tim replied. Nathan shrugged.

"Not much." Nathan's mind was a million miles away. He saw Haley in the hallway. For a split second their eyes met. It was then that he saw the Haley still cared. Maybe it was his imagination, but he knew what he felt.

"Nathan?" Lucas and Tim asked him.

"Hmm?"

"You all right?" Lucas said.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Without another word though, he left them standing at the entrance to the school. Tim looked offended and Lucas puzzled, but Nathan didn't care. He wanted to go after Haley, but he fought the urge. Instead he went to his first class, lonely and sad.


	4. Practice

Nathan had to put his mind off everything for the first basketball practice of the year, though. But he couldn't really do that.

As a result, he was extremely distracted and unfocused at practice. And he got the entire team mad at him when they were doing a drill. He missed two passes and completely blew a lay-up.

"Lines," Whitey bellowed as soon as he missed the lay-up. The whole team groaned. Lucas looked at Nathan.

"What is up with you man?" he said as he ran past him during the lines. Nathan didn't respond. He simply ran the lines. When they finally stopped, Whitey bellowed, "Nathan! See me in my office right now!" Nathan groaned. No one talked to him as he stalked to his coach's office. They were pissed at him for making them run.

Whitey slammed the door shut on them both.

"What the hell was going on out there? You're too damn good to be making those mistakes out there, Nathan. I was extremely disappointed. I expected a much better showing from you today. I know it's only practice, but you look distracted. You need to focus if we are going to go further in the playoffs this year."

"Sorry, coach."

"Listen Nathan. I know about your failed marriage. I disapproved because I thought it would ruin your basketball career. Don't waste this chance." Nathan nodded. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I'm sorry coach. Really. I just," Nathan said, before Whitey cut him off.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. I just expect to see a better performance tomorrow. What ever is on your mind, get rid of it. We won't win any playoff games if you do as poorly as you did today."

Nathan frowned. He knew. Whitey had reiterated his statements twice already.

"Can I leave?"

"Yes, go," Whitey, said. He sighed as Nathan left.

Lucas was right outside after Nathan exited the office.

"Got chewed out, huh?" Lucas asked him.

"Yeah. Just a bit." Nathan's laugh was false. He pounded his fist angrily on the lockers.

"I don't need another lecture from Whitey." He looked directly at Lucas. "Or from you."

"Dammit," Nathan said, as he left. Lucas went after him.

"Nathan, wait. What the hell is with you? You're lashing out at everyone. I'm your brother Nathan."

"I know, Lucas. Sorry." But Nathan didn't sound like he meant it. "I just want to know what the letter said."

"Huh?" Lucas said. Nathan realized he had spoken aloud.

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"I'm sure," Lucas said. Lucas had a suspicion though. Haley.

"Nathan," Lucas said, "You can trust me. Really. Whatever you're going through. You can tell me."

"It's nothing."

"You look like hell Nathan. It's not nothing."

"It is okay? Just leave me alone Lucas. Just leave me alone. I don't feel like talking about it."

"Okay," Lucas said, "But if you want to talk. I'm here, bro."

"Yeah. Thanks." Nathan said as he walked away.

But on the way out, he met Haley in the hall. He nearly ran into her, in his rage.

"Oh, hi." Nathan said a bit nervously. Haley found it cute, but thought better of it. _You ended the marriage, she thought to herself. All because of the letter she had been given. _

_The day Haley found the letter had been quite unlike the day she told Nathan she wanted a divorce. It was blistering warm and unpleasant. She had found it in her locker. There was no mention of whom it was from._

_Haley thought it was from Nathan, so she opened it. But she what the letter contained was quite unexpected. And there was more then one. Inside the envelope was a letter and another envelope addressed from some girl named Lauren._

_But the first message was a terrible warning about her marriage. It told her, if she didn't end it, she would pay the consequences. It had almost been like a horror movie. And that had scared her. She knew that letter wasn't from Lauren though. It was from someone else. _

_And that someone else had found the letter in her mailbox from Lauren. It was someone who disapproved of her marriage, but who?_

_The second letter was from Lauren, who was her cousin. In it she had told her about some guy she had met. She hadn't mentioned Nathan's name exactly, but Haley had known exactly whom she was talking about. Lauren had not known about Haley's marriage, which is probably why she was telling her about how great Nathan was. _

_But with those two letters, she had made her decision. She had been thinking about it for a while and those two letters reinforced her thoughts that the marriage was not working as well as they both had hoped._

_Haley wanted to work on her music too, and the fact was that they didn't have enough money for her to do that. Sure, Nathan worked at the dealership. But it didn't allow them that much freedom. Plus the warning, and Nathan cheating on her. _

_But there was one other reason she had not told anyone, not even Lucas._


	5. Can we just be friends?

"How have you been?" Nathan asked her.

"I'm good." She looked at Nathan's bloodshot eyes, with dark circles around him.

"What about you?" she asked him with slight concern, "You look tired." _And ill, but Haley did not want to seem too concerned about her ex-husband. _

"Fine, I'm fine." He didn't say anything more. They were awkward around each other now. But that was to be expected. Nathan knew what he wanted to say to her. He wanted to say he was sorry. He wanted to make her love him again. He wanted to ask her out.

"Haley, I" he began. But then he stopped.

"Yes?" she asked him carefully.

"Do you want to go to a movie on Friday?" Haley was taken aback. She didn't want to get caught up with Nathan Scott again even after how badly she still wanted him. But he cheated. He deserved what he was about to get.

"No." Haley's voice was cold. "I'm sorry Nathan, but no." She didn't tell him what she knew.

"Why not? We used to…" his voice trailed off, knowing his argument was hopeless.

"That was the past, Nathan."

"I know," he replied. What he really wanted to know was what were the reasons for it. What events had caused the divorce? He didn't really know. He suspected things, but he didn't know for sure.

Nathan watched as his ex-wife turned to leave. Then he followed after her. He only followed, when she knew Haley was gone.

Then, Nathan got into his car and sped away. He saw Lucas at the front of the school as he was speeding off. He almost went back. But he decided against it, though he knew he had to talk to someone and soon.

All of his pain was weighing him down. Somehow, despite all that he was actually more focused on his homework. A part of him thought it was because he wanted to prove something to Haley. Prove that he was still the one for her and would still work for her. He wanted to do all of that for her. He would do anything for her at this point.  
So when he got home, Nathan studied hard. Then he went to the river court again, and played for an hour, practicing intensely. What he didn't see was Whitey watching him, with distinct approval.

When he was done, Nathan felt exhausted and weak. He figured that was most likely due to the fact he could never sleep anymore. That was what Nathan figured anyways. He was in fantastically good shape. He stumbled over to the bench. He sat down, breathing heavily. It had been a good workout despite playing by himself.

He did not notice Whitey as he made his way towards the car, until his coach stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Coach?" Nathan asked in surprise.

"Yes. Good job," Whitey said. Nathan stared.

"You watched me?" he asked.

"Yep. I was pleased with what I saw. Do that in practice tomorrow and you'll be fine." 

"Whatever you say, Whitey," Nathan replied, "Is this going to take long? I'm pretty beat."

"That's another thing. Get some rest, Nathan. I want you to be fresh for season."

"All right," Nathan said, "I'll get some if I can ever get home." He was slightly joking. Whitey chuckled a bit.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Whitey said.

"Yeah, see you." Nathan got into his car. Weird, Nathan thought. He sighed as he entered the dark apartment alone. He shivered slightly, the place haunting him for some reason.

He really missed Haley a lot. The apartment was full of painful memories. Nathan thought about moving to a different one. But, he never had the time, what with basketball and school. And a part of him wanted to hold on to what they had. The apartment was something he could hold on to.

Nathan kicked off his shoes and took a nice refreshing shower to cool himself off from the workout. Then he went to the bed and lay down. But, as usual, sleep took a long time in coming. He thought he should be getting used to the empty bed by now, but he wasn't. Nathan stared at the ceiling. 

Whenever he did sleep, she haunted him in his dreams. The power she held over him was great. Normally, Nathan was used to it being the other way around.

Morning could not come soon enough for Nathan. It was 3:00 in the morning when sleep finally overtook him. 3 hours later, Nathan was forced to wake up.

He groaned. Last night had been a terrible night for sleeping. He wished it could have been like yesterday. Yesterday he had felt refreshed. Today, he felt sluggish and tired. He also had one hell of a headache. For a split second Nathan felt like drinking or even doing drugs. But then the moment passed. Nathan wondered how in the world he was going to play basketball as good as he had last night. He did not even feel like getting out of bed.  
He knew what the coming day would bring: misery.

_Maybe, Nathan thought, Haley would accept being friends. But Nathan didn't know if he could even accept only that. Just friends, after all we had. Still, it is better then what we are right now, which is nothing._


	6. Sick

A/N: This chapter is longer then the other ones. Enjoy!

With a new vow to start things over with Haley, Nathan slowly got out of bed and went to change. Then he swallowed four Advil for his headache and left.

Nathan purposefully looked for Haley as he entered the school. He wanted to make good on his vow.

He saw her chatting away with Peyton. They both stopped at the sight of him. That made Nathan think a little. _Were they talking about me? He wondered. _

"Oh hi, Nathan," Haley said. She tried to be cheerful to him, but Nathan could tell it was fake.

"Hey, Hales," Nathan said calling her by her old nickname. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Haley looked at Peyton.

"Sure, go ahead," Peyton, said. "Call me." She said that directly to Haley. Haley smiled at her friend.

"Sure, thing." Then she turned to face Nathan.

"What's up?" Haley asked intrigued by the fact that Nathan had sought her out. They hadn't really talked in months, but this was the second time in two days. Then she remembered, she wasn't supposed to be thinking about him. _You stopped that a long time ago, she reminded herself. _

"Listen, Hales, I know you probably want nothing to do with me, but I was thinking, can we at least be friends? After all we had, and we don't even talk anymore." Haley looked at him.

"Be friends with you?" Haley asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing," Haley said quickly, "Its just that I don't know if I can handle that."

"What do you mean?" Nathan demanded quickly. "Do you still care? I know you do."

"Nathan," Haley started, "We were never really friends, its not that easy. We don't have anywhere to go from."

"So?" Nathan argued, "We can start fresh. Come on Hales, give me this chance."

Haley looked into his eyes. His tired, drawn eyes full of anger, hurt, and pleading.

"I don't know, Nathan," she said.

"We can start new. Forget about the past. That was months ago. You threw it away. It might even be fun." Nathan pleaded. _Thanks for reminding me, Haley thought, bitterly, but it was you who threw it away by cheating on me with my cousin, out of all people! _

"We can be friends on two conditions. One, nothing about our past is mentioned. In fact we don't know each other at all. You want fresh we'll start fresh with a clean, blank slate."

Nathan smiled. "Sure." Then he extended an arm to her.

"Hi. I'm Nathan Scott." Haley smiled back. "Glad to meet you, Nathan. I'm Haley James."

"Well I got to go to my first class," Haley told Nathan, "But it was nice meeting you. Thanks." Then she turned and walked away, Nathan starring after her. Lucas came up from behind him clasping a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, man, what's up?"

"Nothing much," Nathan said to Lucas. They started walking towards their first class, which they had together. Nathan was silent the whole trip there.

"You okay?" Lucas asked Nathan when they had sat down at the back of the classroom.

"Yeah, why?" Nathan said puzzled.

"No reason," Lucas said, "Did you get some sleep for once?" Nathan shook his head no. He wasn't really in a talking mood, and Lucas noticed it.

"You seem kind of quiet, you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, Luke. I have a terrible headache. That's all." _Besides I'm all talked out from Haley. The plan worked, but for how long? _Nathan didn't know, but he wanted Haley back. If being friends was going to help him, Nathan was going to take it.

Nathan put his head down on the desk. _Man, do I not feel good, he thought. Hope I'm not getting something. _The lecture from his teacher was hard to pay attention to. But Nathan tried to take notes anyways because of his promise to himself. It was all part of his plan to win back Haley.

The rest of his day passed in a blur until basketball practice because he knew Whitey expected him to show a lot better then he did yesterday. Nathan sighed. His head was still aching.

Nathan had kept a low profile, throughout the day, not in the mood to talk to anyone. He only wanted to talk to Haley. In class they had talked a little, but it was not enough to satisfy him.

He saw Lucas and Anna holding hands and laughing as they made their way towards gym. What Nathan wouldn't give to have that with Haley again.

"Hey guys," Nathan said.

"Hey," Lucas said.

"Hi," Anna replied. Then she turned to Lucas, "I got to get changed for my basketball practice in the other gym. See you later."

"Yeah. Bye," Lucas said, kissing her. She smiled and waved, and walked out of the doors to the other gym next door.

"Ready for another day?" Lucas asked.

"Sure," Nathan said with a hint of sarcasm, "I'm as tired as hell." In the locker room, Nathan rummaged through his bag, looking for some medicine to help ease his headache.

He took two this time, swallowing them with the water he had from lunch. Lucas looked at his brother.

"All right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Nathan picked up his bag. "Come on, let's go." Despite not feeling well, Nathan knew he was showing a lot better then he did yesterday. He was exhausted, but determined not to let it show.

He was hitting shots right and left in the scrimmage. Whitey barked praises at him.

"Good job Scott!" he yelled. The practice was ended with free throws and lines if the player missed. As a result the team only had to run 4 lines, compared with yesterday's 20. Whitey came up to Nathan after practice.

"Now that's more like it," he growled. Nathan hoisted his bag on his shoulder.

"I expect to see that every practice. And more during the games!" With that, Whitey clasped a hand on Nathan's shoulder. Then he whispered quietly, "Good job today. It's not official yet, but I'm making you and Lucas captains for this year." Nathan grinned.

"Thanks coach." He punched Lucas in the shoulder. A friendly gesture.

"Coach is making us captains." Lucas grinned too.

"Nice." They went to the locker rooms to shower and change. Nathan just sat there leaning against the lockers, not doing anything. He closed his eyes briefly. Then without another word, and without telling Lucas he was leaving, Nathan walked out, still in his basketball clothes.

When he reached his house, Nathan plopped down on his couch. He thought briefly of changing and maybe moving to his room but he didn't really have the energy or strength. But for the first time in a long time he slept.

The clock read 12:05 when Nathan finally woke up. This time he got up and took a shower and changed and crawled into his bed. It took him an hour to fall asleep though because he noticed there were 3 messages on his cell phone. One from Haley and two from Lucas.

The one from Haley asked him if he wanted to go with her to the café for breakfast on Saturday. Nathan smiled while listening to her message. Lucas's first message just told him to call back whenever he got the home.

The second, Nathan noticed was at 12:00, right before he woke up, asking where he was and if he was okay. So, Nathan called Lucas back.

"Hello?" Lucas asked on his cell.

"What are you doing up so late?" Nathan asked him.

"Nothing. You're up too." Lucas replied, "Where have you been all this time?"

"Sleeping," Nathan replied, "I'm not feeling well."

"Oh," Lucas said. "Yeah, you didn't look well at practice." Lucas hesitated for a moment. He wanted to know if Nathan was okay, not health wise but about Haley and everything. Then Nathan surprised him.

"I'm going to breakfast on Saturday with Haley."

"Really?" Lucas said.

"Yeah."

"You coming to school tomorrow?" Lucas asked Nathan.

"No."

"Feeling that bad huh?" Lucas asked him. His tone was a bit sarcastic. He thought Nathan was faking his illness just a bit even though he did look tired and sick.

"I guess." Nathan paused. "Listen when you see Haley, tell her I'll meet her at the café at 8 on Saturday."

"Sure." Lucas said. "Well anyways bro, I hope you feel better. I got to go though."

"Hey, thanks." Nathan replied. "See ya."

"See ya." Nathan clicked off his cell. He turned off the light and closed his eyes. _Man I'm tired. _His last thoughts were of Haley. What a powerful spell she held over him. Enough so that he thought of her so much it affected his sleep and his health.

Nathan stumbled over to his bathroom the following more, searching for medicine and a thermometer. He was running a 101-degree fever. _Damn, Nathan thought, seeing the reading. _

He sighed. Coach would be pissed at him for missing practice. _But what can I do, Nathan thought. I'm as sick as hell._


	7. A Discovery

A/N: Switching point of view: (Haley's point of view)- for one section only, sorry long time no update...anyways here's the next part. and thanxs to all the reviews!

Haley looked for Lucas or Nathan at lunch. She spotted Lucas first.

"Hey," Lucas greeted her.

"Hey," Haley replied happy to see her best friend. Haley paused before speaking. "Have you seen Nathan lately? He never called me back last night."

"Yeah, he told me to tell you to meet him at the café at 8 on Saturday."

"And why didn't he tell me this himself?" Haley asked.

"He's sick." Lucas said, "I don't think he's here today."

"Oh," Haley said. Haley was worried but she didn't want to admit that, even to Lucas. _Just like you hid the reasons you divorced Nathan? A little voice said in her head. _

Lucas was having similar thoughts.

"So tell me, Haley. Why did you divorce Nathan? He's not taking it very well." Haley sighed.

"I know. But I have my reasons." Haley would not say what they were, however. But, Lucas pressed her.

"And you never told me what those reasons were." Haley paused. _Maybe I should tell him. _But just then, Anna came up and wrapped her arms around Lucas. Lucas turned all his attention to her. Haley sighed. She picked up her things and left. Her best friend just totally ignored her. _But, Haley reasoned, I have been distant from him lately. I haven't told him anything. And I don't want to. I'm sure Anna will find out somehow. _The thought was bitter and angry.

_And why am I feeling so sympathetic for Nathan? _Haley chided herself. She knew the main reason she had divorced him. Something more then just the cheating. Something she had discovered in the apartment. She had found it in fact.

_The day had been stressful. It was exactly one month before Haley fatefully had decided to divorce Nathan. Haley had gone to their room, just wanting to sleep. But then she noticed a dresser drawer was open. It was Nathan. Something was sticking out. A bottle. Haley took the bottle out._

_In it she found some drugs. Some were missing. Haley had been shocked. She could not believe her husband was keeping this secret from her. She could not believe Nathan was even doing drugs, after what happened last year. With the cheating, Nathan had lied twice. Who knew how many more times he lied? Haley sure didn't know. _

_Why did he do it? He obviously did not love me as much as I thought. Haley was bitter. She grew distant from Nathan after the discovery. There was nothing to say to him anymore, and the letter from Lauren was the final straw. From that moment on, Haley could not count on Nathan to take care of her and her baby. That was another secret she kept from Nathan. She was pregnant. 5 months now, and beginning to show. Brooke and Peyton knew. Haley was glad Lucas did not notice it. She knew a lot of that was her avoidance of him and Anna. The so-called "love of his life."_

_She half expected Nathan to notice it when she talked to him yesterday. But he didn't and Haley was glad._

_However, she was planning to tell him on Saturday. She thought he at least deserved to know why she divorced him and that she was pregnant. They wouldn't have been able to support a child. Haley left him, so she wouldn't have to deal with the fear that he would leave her once he found out they couldn't support a child, just like Dan did to Karen years ago._

"Haley?" a voice asked her. It was Peyton. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking." She looked down at her stomach. Peyton nodded in understanding.

"You're telling him on Saturday, right?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah," Haley said. "I hope he'll show up. He's not here today. Lucas says he's sick or something."

"Oh I see," Peyton, replied not really carrying about her ex-boyfriend, because of what he did to Haley. But she could see Haley was worried. Peyton could see that Haley still cared no matter what she claimed.

"I miss him. A lot." Haley said suddenly. She suddenly hugged Peyton. "God, I love him so much still."

_Why do I regret my decision so much? _

A/N: Okay back to Nathan's point of view.

The room was dark. In fact the whole house was dark. The light made Nathan's head hurt. He was asleep when Lucas came in.

Lucas switched on the light. Nathan groaned and shielded his eyes. In the light Lucas could see how pale Nathan was. His cheeks were flushed and his hair was wet and matted around his head.

"Turn it off," Nathan said in a hoarse voice, so unlike his own. Lucas did obeyed.

"Sorry, Luke, but it gives me a headache. You can turn the light on in the hall. Lucas got up and turned it on. He had to be able to see a little.

"Not feeling good, are you?" Lucas asked his brother.

"Yeah. I told you I'm sick."

"Yeah, I can see that," Lucas said. He thought Nathan could have just wanted to ditch a couple of days, but no Nathan _was _actually pretty sick. Lucas was a bit concerned. Nathan had a fever and everything.

"Do you want anything?" Lucas asked and then noticed everything was cluttered on his brother's desk. A thermometer, water, pills, Kleenex, trash can, whatever anyone needed when they were sick.

"Feel like eating?"

"Nah," Nathan replied. Nathan looked at the clock by his bed. 5:02 in the evening. He had been sleeping since 10 that morning. All the covers were burrowed around him, for he had chills. There was a long pause.

"So," Lucas said, "I saw Haley and I gave her the message."

"Great," Nathan said. He gave his brother a weak smile. Another pause. Lucas found that he was having little to say to Nathan for some reason. Normally they talked a lot. But, then again Nathan was sick and he probably didn't feel much like talking anyways.

"So, I just came by to see how you were doing."

"Thanks," was Nathan's reply. "I think I'll be out a few days but I'll be fine. It's just some flu."

"That's good." Lucas said. "Oh and in case you were wondering, Whitey isn't mad."

"Okay." Nathan said. He just wanted to sleep. He felt horrible, despite what he told Lucas. "Listen, Luke, I'm going to sleep."

"All right." Lucas got out his homework and began doing some. Whatever Nathan said, Lucas didn't want to leave his brother all alone while he was sick. And he certainly did not expect Nathan's parents to do anything about it or even know.

They probably had cheered when Haley divorced Nathan. They never came to approve of their marriage. In fact, Nathan's parents went so far as to make snide comments about Haley so often, Lucas almost didn't notice them when he overheard Deb talking to his mom Karen.

Nathan woke up around 9. He looked surprised to see Lucas still there.

"Hey thanks," Nathan said. He knew Lucas had stayed to watch over him. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know." Lucas said. "But you're my brother." He hesitated.

"Luke?" Nathan asked him with concern and confusion. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, with me. But, what you are doing to yourself over Haley? I think you really need to get over her Nate." Nathan did not say anything at first.

He sat upright in bed, causing dizziness to shoot through him and his head to ache.

"Don't say that." Nathan voice was shot, but it was still harsh sounding. "Don't."

"I'm sorry, bro, but look how it's affecting you, your health."

"Just shut up Lucas!" Nathan shouted as loud as he could, which was not very loud at all.

"I'm just trying to help."

"Well you're not! Damnit Luke I loved her. I loved her." Nathan doubled over in bed beginning to cough. He stopped long enough to say, "Get out. Just get out."

"Nathan," Lucas began to say sympathetically.

Nathan cut him off. "Luke. Listen. I'm exhausted and sick and I don't feel like arguing with you. Just please get out of my apartment."

"Okay," was all Lucas could say. _But you really need to learn to accept it. _

Nathan was breathing heavily in the bed. The argument had taken a lot out of him. Anger was filled inside of him. _He didn't want to accept anything. He just wouldn't. _He was going to do things his way. Lucas didn't know anything. Saturday couldn't come soon enough for Nathan.

If he could just get over this flu first. He knew Lucas had meant well, but any thoughts about Haley…well he didn't want to think about the possibility of getting over her. He just wanted her back.


End file.
